380 BIKDS OF THE NEW YORK CITY REGION 



LONG-BILLED CURLEW (Numenius americanus) 

 Sixty years ago this fine Curlew was a regular transient on 

 the shores of Txmg Island. By 1880 it had become a scarce 

 fall transient, but specimens were shot almost every season 

 up to September 9, 1889, the last record. The migration dates 

 were April 28, and July 21 to September 12. It is un- 

 doubtedly a bird of the past on Long Island, and its occur- 

 rence at the present time would be purely accidental. Mr. 

 Roy Latham reports one on September 2, 1905 at Orient. 

 A record published in Bird-Lore of a bird observed July 4, 

 1904 at Long Beach is not worth a moment's consideration. 



LONG BEACH. Specimen shot August 20, 1873 (New- 

 bold T. Lawrence). 



ESKIMO CUELEW (Numenius borealis) 

 The Eskimo Curlew occurred formerly on Long Island in 

 flights in fall after easterly gales, sometimes in numbers. 

 It is now on the verge of extinction, if not actually extinct. 

 The last definitely authenticated specimen was shot near 

 Good Ground, Long Island, August 3, 1893. Two more 

 recent records have been proved erroneous, and otherwise 

 we have only a few reports of specimens shot by sportsmen 

 who "knew the birds well years ago," but who thought 

 nothing of it at the time. Such records are of little scientific 

 value, when a bird almost extinct is involved, especially when 

 some of them have been proved erroneous. One report, 

 however, is worthy of full consideration. Mr. John H. 

 Hendrickson of Jamaica, a veteran sportsman, who knows 

 Long Island Shore-birds as well as any one living, and who 

 has added much to our local knowledge of the rarer species, 

 believes he saw two birds on September 1, 1913 (See Miller, 

 Auk, 1915, p. 226). 



OYSTER-CATCHER (H&matopus palliatus) 

 This is another of the long list of water-birds that are 

 now extinct at the northern limit of their former range. 



